The Great Reunion
a commentary on Genesis 46
Welcome back to another Biblit! This week we get to witness the event we’ve all been waiting for. The reunion of Joseph and his father, Jacob! Now, we haven’t been waiting for 22 years like Joseph has, but I was still pretty excited for this to happen. I won’t keep you waiting any longer, let’s jump into this commentary on Genesis 46.
Context
The journey to Egypt begins with prayer, as all good road trips ought to. Jacob travels south and, remaining in the promised land, stops at Beersheba to make a sacrifice to God. This is the same Beersheba where Isaac built an altar in Genesis 26:
“From there he went up to Beer-sheba, and the Lord appeared to him that night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your offspring because of my servant Abraham.” So he built an altar there, called on the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there. Isaac’s servants also dug a well there.” (Genesis 26:23-25 CSB).
Jacob worships God and then he once again hears the Almighty’s voice speak to him. The last time Jacob encountered God was when he wrestled with Him that night in the desert many many years ago. The cool part is that the first time Jacob heard from God, it was in a dream and God gave Jacob many promises of what God would do. Here, we see the same pattern. God comes to Jacob in a vision at night and gives him more promises:
“I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again, and Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.” (Genesis 46:3-4 ESV).
God reassures Jacob of the same promises he did to Abraham. This time, though, God also assures Jacob that it is ok to travel out of the promised land. God provides extra comfort by promising that He will reunite Jacob and Joseph and that Jacob will have a peaceful death.
Remember, Jacob is super old (130 years old) at this point and still has a bad hip (probably a lot worse by now). The journey to Egypt was a little over 200 miles so this would be quite the trek for that old man. God’s perfect timing with these promises probably gave Jacob the immense peace needed to make this journey.
Feeling assured by God, the family takes off on the journey.
The next section goes through a quick genealogy of all the family members of Jacob. There are some interesting pieces throughout the genealogy and even some controversial stuff. Apparently one of Simeon’s sons, Ohad, is never mentioned again in scripture and we don’t know why. The names of Er and Onan should sound familiar, right? Even though God struck them down, they are still listed here too.
There is also some confusion because in one spot it says that 66 people came to Egypt, but then later it says that all in all Israel's numbers were 70. This confusion can be resolved if we remember that Er and Onan are dead, Joseph and his two sons are already in Egypt, and that the Bible specifically counts Dinah, even though the rest of the numbers do not count wives.
The important piece is that the Bible here says 70 were in Egypt at the start. A number of full completion (7 * 10). Just another cool way God uses numbers to show us He is in charge and sovereign.
Before they arrive in Egypt, Judah is sent ahead of them to show the way to Joseph in the land of Goshen. This is pretty cool; Judah is sent as an in-between or a bridge to connect the father, Jacob, and the long lost son, Joseph. We’ll talk more about this point in a little bit.
Anyways, Joseph and Jacob reunite at long last! It is as you would expect for two men to reunite after 22 years. Many tears were shed, but very few words were spoken.
Finally, Jacob speaks up and says he can die in peace now.
I can’t even imagine what this reunion would feel like for either of these men. Joseph was probably sure he’d never see his dad again. Jacob was 100% sure he’d lost his son forever. He was still living in depression and then he finds out that not only is Joseph alive, but he gets to see him again too! Wow!
The last little section is about Joseph making sure his people can stay secured in the land of Goshen. Remember, the Egyptians did not like shepherds and Goshen was an incredibly fertile spot of land, absolutely perfect for people with cattle and sheep.
Joseph tells them that when Pharaoh asks their occupation to inform him they are keepers of livestock, and this will allow them to live in Goshen. It will also ensure the Israelites remain separate from the Egyptians and stay safe from the temptations of the world.
Interpretation
Alright, the great journey to Egypt, Jacob’s final journey while alive, and a great reunion. What can we learn from all of this? I’m sure there are a million lessons here, but a few things stood out to me this time around.
God’s sovereign plan coming to fruition. We’ll see more of this next week, but I think it’s very reassuring to see these final few moments in Jacob’s life and to witness the full fruition of God’s plan and sovereignty in his life. We see him reassure Jacob of the promises He has for Israel and give him peace to travel to Egypt. We also see God’s sovereignty in the revelation of the genealogy. Witnessing the perfect roundness of 70 just reminds us that God is totally in control. God sent Joseph to Egypt to save a remnant of Israel (as we learned last week), and now we see how that comes to be fulfilled. Israel will be allowed to live and thrive in Egypt.
Pray first. Remember all those many times we saw Jacob, Esau, and their parents take matters into their own hands? How they didn’t go to God in prayer first? Remember how Jacob did that when he lived in Succoth and Shechem and the awful consequences that happened because of it? Well, it looks like Jacob learned the lesson at last! It is really cool to see Jacob pray before taking any action. I can’t imagine how happy he must have been to learn Joseph is alive and well, but he still goes to worship and prays to God before he ever leaves for Egypt. Wow! That is so cool and what a testament of his faith and devotion to God.
Judah is already resembling Christ. Remember that the lineage of Judah eventually leads to Jesus Christ. We get a very cool little sneak peak of Christ in this passage when Judah is sent ahead of the family. He is sent by Jacob (the father) to make a way for Joseph (his child) to reunite with Jacob. This is exactly what Jesus does! He has created a way for God (the Father) to reunite with us (His children), who He so desperately wants to reunite with!
Application
I believe this passage offers us a lot of hope and security in our own lives. I’ll break it down a bit.
We can trust in God’s plan. I think this is the most used point I’ve written in these Biblits, but it will never not be true either. God is always at work, His plans always succeed, but it’s all in His perfect timing. Pretty soon, Israel is going to be enslaved by Egypt for 400 years. The time between the last prophet in the Old Testament and the New Testament is another 400 years. But all in God’s timing. What we know and can rest assured in is that God’s plan is supreme and every promise of His will come to fruition. We will live for eternity in His presence with a new redeemed and sinless body. Sin and satan will be destroyed forever!
Just like Jacob, we should always pray first. If Jacob has taught us anything in his life, it’s that praying first is not an easy thing to do. Though Christ lives in us, we are still trapped in a sinful flesh. Flesh’s natural reaction is to run away from God. However, we need to pray and ask the Lord for everything. He desperately wants a relationship with us, and us with Him. You can’t say you love someone if you don’t want to share everything with them, right? So it is with God. We should take a page out of Jacob’s book and pray before any decision.
Christ was sent as a bridge so that we can be reunited with God. This brings so much peace on it’s own. What I think we often overlook, however, is God’s reaction. We always talk about how desperate us sinners are to be reunited with God. However, God is just as desperate and desires us more than we could ever know! This story shows a really cool picture of that. Jacob hasn’t seen his son in 22 years and thought he was dead! Now he can be reunited with him. That is the same excitement and desperation God has towards us!